53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Important for what came later, January 3, 2001
This review is from: Call for the Dead (Hardcover)
This is le Carre's first novel. It has the merit of brevity, and this brevity is coupled with a plot just complicated enough for the length.
It is an important book, but not for its contents. It introduces George Smiley, Peter Guillam, Mendel of Special Branch, and Mundt of East German intelligence. The latter was to play a pivotal role in The Spy WHo came in from the Cold; Mendel in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Guillam in The Karla Trilogy; and Smiley? Well, Smiley is the key figure in le Carre's fiction - probably the most famous figure in all spy fiction. And it is for Smiley's introduction that the novel is important. Here, we find some of the history of his marriage to Lady Ann, we find some of his background, his work during the war, his time as an interrogator; and - a curiosity - Smiley as protagonist, a man of (occasional) action, rather than the deskbound thinker so familiar from later books.
The plot can be summarised simply. Smiley has interviewed an individual about allegations of spying. After the interview they die, apparently at their own hand, leaving a note which suggests that Smiley's interview led to the death. Smiley investigates whether this was suicide or murder? Was the deceased a spy? He is led to a confrontation with individuals from East German intelligence.
The writing style is workmanlike, although there is some foreshadowing of later le Carre obsessions. There are musings on the nature of betrayal (personal betrayal in a relationship, and public betrayal of a country); there is the conflict which rests at the heart of Smiley, a moral man acting in a way which may be immoral to achieve a greater objective.
Characterisation is perfunctory, only Smiley being adequately realised. But throughout this book and the later A Murder of Quality the characters seem ancillary to plot, and Smiley himself seems distant, cold. This reviewer did not care about the characters.
The novel is entertaining enough, but contrasted with the high standards set by le Carre's later fiction is disappointing.
This is one for le Carre completists. If you've not read le Carre before do not start here. The Spy who came in from the cold; and the Karla trilogy are as good as any post-war English fiction.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction, July 5, 2000
This review is from: Call for the Dead (Hardcover)
It is unfortunate that this great little book has fallen out of print, like so many of Le Carre's books. I can't help but wonder why. It marks not only Le Carre's entrance into fiction, but George Smiley's first step into our world. Here we have our introduction to The Circus, Smiley's odd relationship with Ann and the history thereof. Such small things that are in fact so important. Not to mention that is a great little murder mystery, which is how Le Carre began his literary career. Both this and the follow-up, "A Murder of Quality", find George Smiley involved in that greatest of literary traditions: the murder mystery. It was not until Le Carre's third novel, the classic "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold", that he broke George Smiley free from his confines and dropped him into the world in which he is now such a familiar fixture.
This little book (not even two hundred pages) forms the perfect introduction to Smiley, and though it is not an essential piece of the Le Carre library, it is not to be missed if you're a George Smiley fan. I encourage everyone interested to seek out a copy (which you can in fact order from Amazon's sister site: Amazon.co.uk, but be prepared to spend the extra few dollars for importing).
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It doesn't Get Much Better than This, August 28, 2005
Recently I decided to buy nice new hardback copies of all of my favorite author, John LeCarre's books. When I did a quick search, I discovered that I not only didn't own his first novel, Call for the Dead, I had never read it. So, I bought it and what a pleasure it was to read when it arrived. Clearly, John LeCarre was a great genious from the very beginning. It introduces the reader to his greatest character, George Smiley, and fills in a lot of unknowns about his beginnings, his marriage to Ann and his odd and quiet character. Its an espionage novel which is almost a who-done-it, and it works beautifully on both levels. This recent publication of the book contains a new forward by P.D. James and a terrific forward by the author himself discussing how he came to be a writer. It is a very satisfying read, and, as always with LeCarre, I was sorry when I was finished reading. I think all of you will be, too.
Penny Blake, Chicago
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